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Excitement is rife within the sporting world with the current Euro 2016 tournament taking place, and the highly anticipated Rio Olympics just around the corner.

But looking a little closer to home, the sporting success in Birmingham is certainly something to shout about, and the upcoming Birmingham Sports Awards , taking place on September 22 at Edgbaston Cricket Club, will be a valuable opportunity to celebrate plenty of local achievements.

Focused on making a positive difference to the citizens of the city, Birmingham City Council have continued to support the Sports Awards this year in order to give back to the community.

We recently spoke to Steve Hollingworth, the Assistant Director of Sport, Events and Parks at Birmingham City Council about his views of the awards. He said: “It provides a great opportunity to recognise all the hard work, dedication and achievements people have made through sport, from individuals at grass root level through to professional athletes, together with teams, volunteers, managers and coaches over the last 12 months. It is a flag ship event for the city and a great celebration of sport.”

Birmingham City Council

Mr Hollingworth discussed what he believes makes Birmingham a standout city for sporting success.

“Birmingham is a world class sporting city and has consistently used international sporting events to profile the city on the world stage as a great place to live, work and invest. The city has great infrastructure and facilities to host such events with many accessible to the local community.

“The City Council and its partners are committed to investing in community sports to provide accessible opportunities for people to be physically active and enjoy sport on their door step. Schemes such as Be Active, Active Parks, and Active Streets are designed to encourage more people to take part and be physically active in their local communities.

“Birmingham has a thriving network of community sports clubs with many competing at county, national and international level, inspiring the next generation to take part and attracting talented athletes into the city.”

Birmingham City Council are sponsoring the Volunteer of the Year category at the awards again this year and Steve went on to explain why this category in particular stood out for them, saying: “We have a fantastic base of enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers who continue to provide an exceptional amount of support across our parks, community sport and events throughout the year. Without these committed and loyal volunteers the majority of formal and informal sport, activities and events would simply not take place.

“They are true unsung heroes in our community and deserve all the recognition they can get. As a city we would like to express our gratitude to all these volunteers by officially sponsoring this award.”

He drew upon parallels that he sees between business and sport, saying: “Simply getting involved in sport can make those currently out of work, more work ready, whether it is actually taking part, volunteering or coaching. It helps with socialising, getting back into a routine, team work and increases self-confidence.

Playing sport and being involved has so many benefits, from better physical and mental health and general wellbeing, to being part of something, and creating a sense of belonging, community spirit and cohesion.

Businesses understand the benefits of having a happy and healthy workforce, which helps increase productivity and reduce absences. Having successful sporting people and events in the city also benefits the hospitality business sector and in addition, when events are televised, it also promotes Birmingham to a wider audience, as a great destination to visit, stay and do business.”

Mr Hollingworth concluded by extending his congratulations to all of the athletes and officials from the region that have successfully secured a place on the national team for the Rio Olympics later this year and he wished them all the best of luck.